A Finishing Touch

C'est La Vie
By: Adriel Cordova, Andrea Herrera, ClaireAnne McCaskill, and Ervin Paraoan
Photography and edited with Photoshop

Our photograph comes from an event described in French author Victor Hugo’s epic novel Les Misérables. The June Rebellion was an uprising of revolutionaries (including students and the poor) that sought to eliminate the July Monarchy. We wanted to show the conflict of power between the two social classes in our portrait. We have one group, the royalty (purple) and the established and conservative (blue), trying to defend their power from the peasantry (earthly tones) and the liberals (red). As the uprising took place in the city of Paris, we chose to represent that by having our models stand on top of a representation of the Parisian flag – red and blue. Also scattered around the portrait are artifacts of French culture such as a beret and the July Monarchy Coat of Arms. The June Rebellion was initiated on June 5th and 6th, 1832. However, the issues of classism are universal and timeless. We have an analog clock displaying the 11:59 of yesterday and a digital clock displaying the 12:01 of tomorrow. Also present is a map centered on France – just one little corner of the world. Looking back on what spurred many revolutions and what happens when we try to eliminate classism, what can we say other than…c’est la vie (that’s life)!

Second draft will be up soon. Latest by Friday.